A challenging diagnosis of dyspnea: A case report of contralateral reexpansion pulmonary edema

Submitted: December 12, 2017
Accepted: March 4, 2018
Published: March 19, 2018
Abstract Views: 7133
PDF: 641
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Authors

Reexpansion pulmonary edema (RPE) is an uncommon complication of thoracentesis or chest drainage. It occurs in the ipsilateral or contralateral lung. Causes, pathogenesis and therapy are not well understood especially for contralateral RPE. We describe a case of fatal contralateral RPE in a 59-years-old woman with right lung cancer underwent ultrasound-guided thoracentesis for massive pleural effusion and severe dyspnea. Pathogenesis of contralateral RPE is probably multifactorial and in this case is mostly due to the overperfusion of the healthy lung and consequent capillary damage. The right therapy for this condition is not known.

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Sforza, Alfonso, Maria V. Carlino, Giovanni Albano, Maria I. Arnone, Giuliano De Stefano, Andrea D’Amato, Federica De Pisapia, Giovanni de Simone, and Costantino Mancusi. 2018. “A Challenging Diagnosis of Dyspnea: A Case Report of Contralateral Reexpansion Pulmonary Edema”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 88 (1). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2018.900.